Installation instructions for your product:

http://www.boralamerica.com/Media/Default/Resources/Stone/CSV-Installation-Guide-11-15f.pdf

The document refers to "grout bag" and the use of extra mortar should be matched to the overall stone color.

The "dry stack" would use a different form of install and spacing between the stones. Your photos indicate larger spaces between the stones which would indicate the builder was planning on using the grout all along.

If you like the look of dry layed or stacked stone, you needed to explain that BEFORE the material was ordered. The proper version of this stone needed to be ordered and the PROPER professional lined up to do the work. The link below explains that quite nicely:

http://www.boralamerica.com/Media/Default/Resources/Stone/Cast-Fit-Installation-Guide-11-15.pdf

The work that has been done looks to be correct and with a nicely matched mortar colour.

Thank you for your detailed response. Very helpful!

Mortar is necessary, to keep stone in place and for moisture control. Here's the weird thing, for me, though-

Do you have two different "sets" of this veneer? The before and after pics show what appears to be two completely different colors. Could just be the light and/or my screen.

It's not your screen - the color temperature is totally different in the two photos. The top one was taken on a camera phone on what looks to be a pretty dreary day and appears quite blue. The bottom one looks like a better camera and is probably more representative of the actual color.

Both were taken on my iPhone, but yes. One was a gray, dreary day and the other was a clear, blue skies day. The overall color scheme of the stone with the mortar does look more muted to me for some reason.

before pic is above, after grout is below:

Looking at the manufacturer's pictures, we chose the Southern Ledgestone, but the installation using the mortar makes it look more like the cut stone :/

Got it, Lisa. I have to say, I really like the overall look of your home.

The last question I'd ask, though- the second stock photo, above, appears to show a very different mortar color (lighter) than that which is on your house. Is that what you ordered/were expecting? Get what you want, but do understand that the ledgestone effect gets "knocked down" just a bit, anywhere you have outdoor conditions and mortar.

I don't know how it goes in different areas, but my story: We put a Texas Limestone (full rock, not veneer) outside to in. The look is great, as it appears from many views that our home is "built around" a rock wall.

Truncated story, since I've told it before- This is a product that can change, vein to vein, as they drag it out of the quarry. I was nervous, as this is on the inside, as well, and there's plenty "going on" both in and out, so I wanted this not to compete, but flow.

Our rock supplier sent pics every couple of days of what was coming out of the ground- "too chocolate" "too spotty"- eh, they knew what I was after. BOOM. A vein big enough to give me 24 tons of the most uniform limestone, in the color I wanted. I took delivery of if WAY early, in the build, but when it's right, you grab it. What a mess on the lot, but we worked it until install was ready.

Our mason built a mini-wall on our lot. Showed me three different colors of mortar. Again, I chose the "quietest" color possible. It's just what we were looking for., and we got it. There was one area, though, where the color was totally "off"- a different day. They just came in and fixed it- mess was nothing, and our contract covered it all.

A couple of pics. This one from the beginning of install of the outside wall. No worries about the shingle color- you see only the primed boards. Might have even been when we were testing colors.

End paint is a beautiful earth-toned grey that (I swear) my architect's 8 year old daughter picked. Complements the rock and the integral colored La Habra Stucco. I take inspiration any place I can get it!

And a couple of areas inside, as the rock wall comes in. Both before construction was finished, lighting is always different. Second pic is a better representation of color.

Thank you for sharing! Your home is beautiful, and it sounds like you worked with a fantastic rock supplier. Everything looks perfect. I'm actually ok with the color of the mortar the stone mason chose. I guess I was just surprised to see it there at all. I feel better about it after everyone's comments...so thanks all!

The stone mason also got back to me. He said that with the extreme New England weather, if they did not put mortar between the joints, there could be problems created by moisture. Snow/ice could get in between the stones, freeze, thaw, moisure could get behind the stones and cause them to fall off. Thanks again everyone.